Authors: Eboni Snoe
The camel let go a noise similar to a small roar. Na’im, startled by the animal’s protest, applied too much pressure on the remaining side of the tent, causing it to come down in a cloud around him. Clawing to remove the billowing material from his head, he managed to do so just as the animal bolted forward with, an ill-prepared Felicia on its back.
Chapter Five
“Ei-ei-ei-i,” Felicia screeched as the animal took off, loping with gigantic strides. Within moments she found herself on the ground, landing with a thud, causing her head and her backside to ache. Throwing her head back in anguish, she could see Na’im removing the remainder of the fallen tent from about him. The arrogant son of a biscuit acted as if he didn’t know or even care about what she’d done.
He methodically finished taking down the tent. Then he went after the camel that had stopped about a half mile away. The pain in Felicia's head and her rump, plus Na'im's attitude, had made up her mind. She'd simply get transpor
tation from A1 Kharijah to A1 Uqsur.
Felicia had no idea how long they’d been traveling in the merciless sun, but she knew her backside cried for something softer than the hard flesh of Na’im’s camel’s back. At first she’d tried not to lean against him, but as time
passed and she began to feel weak from the heat, physical need overtook her pride.
At the beginning of their journey, he’d acknowledged her presence by passing her a galabia top and head wrap saying it would protect her from the sun. Other than that, no other words had passed between them.
Most of the landscape looked the same to Felicia once they had traveled several miles inland, away from the Nile. They traveled all day across coarse gravel and rock outcroppings, stopping only to eat a small midday meal.
The sun had begun to sink behind a group of sandy hills in the distance when Na’im finally decided on a place to bed down for the night As Felicia dismounted the camel’s back, Na’im noticed she winced with pain as he held her arm to aid her descent.
Felicia felt as if she’d been flogged with a cat-o-nine- tails. Her flesh burned from the sun’s pitiless rays, in spite of the layers of clothing she wore, and her bones ached from the relentless movement of the camel’s body.
Na’im removed all of their gear from the beast of burden so he, too, could rest Looking ^out he decided to pitch the tent in an area that was almost entirely surrounded by gigantic stones. Felicia could tell that over the years many nomads had used this same spot with the same purpose in mind. While Na’im worked, Felicia sat motionless on a flat stone nearby, not caring that she did not offer to help.
“If you go through the opening in the rocks, you will find a small water hole. It should help soothe some of the pain that you helped to bring upon yourself.”
Felicia was in no mood or shape to play verbal volleyball with this man, so she followed his suggestion without protest
The new moon was high in the sky by the time Felicia reached the water hole. She mechanically began to undress in the privacy of an alcove of stones and rocks. The need to shield her was done more by instinct than thought, and she stepped out from her self-made dressing room with little care of being seen by Na’im, or anything or anyone else.
The water hole had many boulders surrounding it, with scarce vegetation growing where it could between the rocks near the water’s edge.
Once Felicia entered the water, she found a place where she could sit and be completely covered, except for her head and neck. She took solace in the prickly pain created by the coarse gravel that blanketed the bottom of the pond. At least it took her mind off her sun burnt skin and the other aches and pains bombarding her. But there was one pain it couldn’t take away.
Despite the strong exterior she’d shown to Na’im during their journey, the hurt of loneliness and alienation was heavy. It wasn’t the first time in her life she’d experienced this. As a matter of fact, to cope with the problems that had inundated her childhood she’d become an expert at dealing with denying her true feelings.
That’s why it took her by surprise when she felt moisture upon her cheeks. Tears?! She couldn’t remember the last time she had actually cried. Was it when her mother lay balled up on the kitchen floor holding her arm that hung strangely from her shoulder? Or when her brother, Rodney, was accidentally shot by drug dealers wanting to even the score with one of their neighbors? These were the highlights of scarring incidents that had dotted her life.
The pond’s water on her fingertips mixed with the tears on her face as they began to flow in earnest Maybe
it was the near-death experience that fueled this outpour of emotion and allowed Felicia to give in to her pain. She cried because of the physical, mental and spiritual desolation she felt. As an adult, she cried the tears that as a child she could find no more of. Now, once again life had thrown her a curve. She had vowed at thirteen, when her father deserted them, never again to be at the mercy of anyone. She told herself she would not be at the mercy of Na’im Raoul Rahman. She knew it would be so easy to take comfort from a few kind words, from his touch. There was something about him that stirred all of her senses to their peak. The smell of his hair as she sat behind him, the feel of his broad back against her cheek, and the way her thighs had molded against his as they rode in the desert.
“Fm not going to let him get the best of me,” she whispered aloud into the cool night air. ‘ ‘No way.”
Chapter Six
As Felicia approached the campsite, she was surprised to see Na’im quietly conversing with another man. Both men looked up as she entered the circle of light created by the glowing fire.
Felicia made quite a captivating picture with her wet tendrils and Na’im’s galabia clinging to her body in places where her skin was still damp.
The water had worked in soothing her body and lifting her spirits. As she had slipped the soft material of the galabia over her naked flesh, she thought of Na’im. He had seen her like this before. He had even dressed her. Just the thought of Na’im’s muscular body being so close to her under those circumstances sent exciting messages to the core of her femininity.
Felicia knew she could have used more discretion in dressing, but that wasn’t what she wanted to do. Maybe now I’ll get his attention, since he wants to be so aloof and nonchalant. I’ll just have to see how much he can take, she thought.
But Na’im’s handsome face remained as impassive as stone as he gazed upon her beyond the campfire. It was his
companion
who showed surprise and pleasure as he took in her womanly curves, clearly outlined by the fire's glare.
Felicia’s feet felt as if they were rooted to the ground. She was paralyzed by the thought of what she must look like to this total stranger. It didn’t take long before the man made it known just what he thought of her.
Felicia’s almond eyes widened in total disbelief and outrage as she watched him pull a pouch out of the folds of his garment She could hear the coins jingle as he threw it up enticingly in front of Na’im.
Felicia didn’t know much Arabic, but there was little doubt in her mind as to what the man was saying to Na’im, sounding as if he were bargaining for wares at one of the village bazaars.
It infuriated her to think that this person felt he had the right to try and buy her. If he or Na’im thought for just one moment she was going to go along with this, they had another thought coming.
It was Na’im’s voice that brought her out of her state of disbelief. He calmly, but with authority, told her to go inside the tent. For a moment Felicia thought of resisting him; then she looked at the stranger and changed her mind.
It wasn’t long before Na’im followed her. “Why did you just stand there, showing yourself in front of us?” he asked heatedly.
Felicia felt her face become warm with embarrass
ment and anger. “Well, how was I to know there was someone else in the camp? You could have come and told me!”
“Keep your voice down, you have already caused me enough shame.”
"Shame? How have I shamed you? I am the one who should feel ashamed,’ ’ she threw back at him, but in a more hushed tone.
“I told him that you are one of several wives, and a favorite at that...so now you will act accordingly.”
“You told him what?!”
“You heard what I said. What else was there to say with you standing there where we could see straight through your clothes? Even if you did not know he was here, you could have had more respect for yourself and dressed like a decent woman around a man you hardly know! And I am referring to me. Is that so much to expect from you?”
“Well aren’t you something. Here’s a man who says he saved my life, but who acts as if I have some kind of plague. And now he’s trying to tell me how to act?” Felicia retorted on a shrill note.
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that tonight. We’ll be sharing the same pallet Shabazz seems to have accepted my explanation, but I’m sure he will be looking for signs to prove that I was not telling the truth. Ravaging a woman who he feels blatantly asked for it would not bother a man like him a bit’ ’
“I'm not sharing anything with you,” Felicia managed to get out with obvious indignation. ‘ ‘What have I done to you, anyway? Why do you dislike me? I would think we could be friends under the circumstances. Maybe you’re one of those men who finds solace in solitude or something like that. But I must honestly say I’m not that kind of person, and at this particular point in my life, with all that has happened to me, I could use a friend.”
‘ ‘You surely were looking for more than friendship to come back here dressed like that!” Na’im’s golden eyes blazed down on her. “You forget I’ve already seen all that you have to offer and I am not having any part of this cat and mouse game you Western women tend to play. With
women from my country, a man know where he stands. With you all, there is nothing but games and more games.’ ’
Na’im didn’t know it, but he’d struck the right cord and that incensed Felicia even further.
“How do you know so much about me? You haven’t shown the slightest interest in what I’m thinking or feeling. So I’ll thank you to keep your stereotyped opinions to yourself.”
Felicia then turned to sit in the furthest comer of the tent that she could find. Refusing to look in Na’im’s direction, she concentrated on plaiting the ends of her hair.
‘ ‘You are not going to make a liar of me. If it were not for you, none of this would have happened in the first place. There will be one pallet in this tent tonight, if you choose to sleep on it or not. The earth becomes very cold and hard at night in the desert, and your journey tomorrow on the camel’s back will be even more painful if you decide to make the bare ground your bed.”
With that, Na’im took out several woven blankets. He padded the ground with some and the others he said would be used as cover during the night. Then he left the tent.
Felicia began to feel the chill of the desert night air shortly after Na’im had gone. Her hair was still damp and the galabia did not provide much protection from the elements.
“I’m one of several wives, am I?” she mumbled out loud. ‘ ‘If he had to say anything of the kind, why couldn’t I just have been his wife?” It all sounded so demeaning. What if he did have several wives? Felicia hated to admit that was the thought that brought her the most frustration.
She assessed the amount of blankets Na’im left on top of the pallet, and she concluded there were enough blankets for two pallets. So she took two of them, leaving one for Na’im.
Just as Felicia was wrapping the blankets around her, Na’im reentered the tent. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when he saw what Felicia had done, he made no comment.
Na’im began to slowly remove the galabia top he was wearing. After he’d taken it off, he flung it on top of a nearby bundle of gear. Felicia tried to act as if she wasn’t paying him any attention, but it was very hard to do. Na’im’s size took up so much space in the small tent. And Felicia was hard put to draw her eyes away from his wide, muscular shoulders and chest, which tapered to a flat torso and trim waistline. Na’im threw back his head, yawned and began to stretch, showing even more of his well-defined frame.
Felicia lowered her eyes, closed them and inhaled deeply. As she released her breath she trembled. Upon opening her eyes she was startled to see Na’im standing right in front of her. Placing both hands on her upper arms, he raised her to her feet. She could barely see his eyes in the dark as he looked directly into hers.
Slowly and purposefully his mouth descended on hers. The contact was so light as he rubbed his closed, but firm lips back and forth against her mouth. Felicia’s eyes were held captive by the golden ones that seemed to probe into her. The feeling of moisture heightened her senses as the tip of Na’im’s tongue outlined her full lips, leaving a tingling path wherever it touched. So vulnerable was she to Na’im’s unprecedented show of affection, Felicia’s lips parted in surrender, allowing him access to the wetness inside. Of this Na’im took full advantage, his tongue tasting her welcome. With skill Felicia had not known before, it lashed out incessantly until she joined him like two serpents in a mating dance. Felicia could think of